Timepiece from which sunrise and sunset time can be determined

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a timepiece from which a sunrise and sunset time along with the position of the sun can be determined. The sunrise time and the sunset time are changed according to the season and the latitude of the place where one man the time. People acquire the sunrise and sunset time from the news of a television or a newspaper. According to the enlargement of cities, underground activities and the degree of building closure are increased to shield the sun. The timepiece of the present invention comprises a circular hour plate which rotates once per 24 hours. Also included is a sunrise and sunset time designating section ( 21 ) for indicating the sunrise time and the sunset time for each month. Through the timepiece of the present invention, the present time, the position of the sun at the present time, the sunrise and sunset time can be appreciated. In particular, the external state of the day or night can be easily distinguished by the people in the underground and in a closed building, through using the timepiece of the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a timepiece from which a sunrise andsunset time can be determined, and more particularly to a timepiece fromwhich a sunrise and sunset time and the position of the sun at aspecific place at the present time for a specific month can bedetermined by providing an hour hand which rotates once per 24 hours anda fixed plate or a rotating plate for designating a sunrise and sunsettime with the timepiece.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Various kinds of time units are used according to a period and a region.For example, the presently used 24-division per day system was employedonly before 100 years in the Orient. Before that, 12-division per daysystem, that is, 12-cycle (12-gabja in Korean) system had been used.When necessary, 100-division per system could be used. Recently, aninternet time which is 1000-division per day system, has been suggestedas the internet, the worldwide communication system is activelyimplemented in the world. However, the 24-division per day system, thatis, 24-hour system is definitely fixed for the present time system. Thetimepiece for indicating the time includes a 12-divisional plate and anhour hand which rotates twice per day.

Nowadays, the widely used system of the date is the solar calendar whichdirectly reflects the moving state of the sun around the earth. That is,one day is obtained from the time of one due culmination to the next dueculmination at a specific place. One day is divided into 24 hours andone hour is divided into 60 minutes. One year is obtained by measuringthe time from the starting point to the next returning point to thestarting point at a specific place on the ecliptic. The widely usedcalendar is the solar calendar and the timepiece is the system of thesolar time system. A season and day and night can be determined throughthe relation of the sun and the earth. Therefore, a lot of the livingperiod coincides with the system of the solar time system. However, mostof the timepiece is 12 hour system of which hour hand rotates once per24 hours for indicating the present time and so, the natural phenomenonsuch as the present position of the sun, the attitude and day and nightcan not be designated by the solar time system. This may break thenatural band between nature and a human being.

When assuming that the culmination time of the sun in Republic of Koreais 12 o'clock (since the standard meridian line in Republic of Korea, isthe east longitude of 135, the real culmination time is 12 o'clock 30minutes), the sun rises from the due east and sets to the due west onvernal equinox day and autumnal equinox day. The sunrise time on thesedays is 6 o'clock a.m. while the sunset time is 6 o'clock p.m. On summershoot, the sun rises from the northeast and sets to the northwest andthe sunrise time is about 4 o'clock 40 minutes a.m. and the sunset timeis about 7 o'clock 20 minutes p.m. Therefore, the day time on the summershoot is longer by about 2 hours and 40 minutes than that on the vernalequinox day or autumnal equinox day. On the winter solstice, the sunrises from the southeast and sets to the southwest and the sunrise timeis about 7 o'clock 20 minutes a.m. and the sunset time is about 4o'clock 40 minutes p.m. Therefore, the day time on the winter solsticeis shorter by about 5 hours and 20 minutes than that on the vernalequinox day or autumnal equinox day, while the night time on wintersolstice is longer by the same length.

The sunrise time and the sunset time are different from day to day andthe difference is accumulated to become about 30 minutes every month.

The sunrise time and the sunset time are changed according to a seasonand the latitude of the place where the man measures the times.

Even though the sunrise time and the sunset time are very importantinformation in daily life, this information could not be easily obtainedwithout taking a look on the news from a television or a newspaper.

In addition, the enlargement of the urbanization brings about theincreased underground activities and the activities in closed buildings,and so most of the people could not see the sun in the actualcircumstance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve theabove-mentioned problems and to provide a timepiece for determining thesunrise time and the sunset time and the position of the sun at thepresent time for a specific place and for a specific month, throughincluding an hour hand which rotates once per 24 hours, and a fixedplate or a rotating plate for designating the sunrise and sunset time.

The object of the present invention can be accomplished by a timepiececomprising an hour hand which rotates once per 24 hours, and a bottomplate which is provided with a sunrise and sunset time designatingsection for designating a scale corresponding to a sunrise and sunsettime for each month.

The timepiece of the present invention can further comprise a minutehand which rotates once per hour.

The shape of the hour hand can be the common shape and the hour hand caninclude a design symbolizing the sun.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above object and advantages of the present invention will becomemore apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereofreference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a planar view of an embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a planar view of a bottom plate according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a planar view of another embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a planar view of a sunrise time designating plate according toanother embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a planar view of a sunset time designating plate according toanother embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will beexplained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 & 2, an hour scale 4 can be represented bydesignating the numerals from 1 to 24, by designating the numerals from1 to 12 for representing ante meridian hours and continuously thenumerals from 1 to 12 for representing post meridian hours or bydesignating the numerals of 3, 6, 9 and 12 with ‘0’ or specific mark forthe remaining intermediate numerals.

The numerals corresponding to the ante meridian hours and the numeralscorresponding to the post meridian hours can be designated in differentbrightness or color saturation for an easy notice. Or the brightestnumeral may be positioned at the noon and the numerals from the noon tomidnight may be gradually darkened and the numerals from the midnight tothe noon may be gradually brightened again.

Preferably, hour scale 4 can optionally rotate in order to adjust thetime when daylight saving time is applied.

The rotation of hour hand 1 can be a continuous analog-type rotation ora digital-type rotation in which hour hand 1 rotates by one scale perhour.

The rotational axis of minute hand 3 can be the same with that of hourhand 1 and can be placed at a predetermined position on the bottomplate.

On a minute scale 5 of the present invention, minutes can be indicatedby the numerals of 0, 10, 20, . . . 50 or by the numerals of 0, 15, 30and 45, as occasion needs.

The rotational directions of hour hand 1 and minute hand 2 can beoptionally determined. When each hand rotates counterclockwise, theorder of the designating numerals of hour hand 1 and minute hand 3should be clockwise.

Bottom plate 1 having a sunrise and sunset time designating section 21,is fixed. The angle between sunrise and sunset designating section 21and a horizontal line (the line connecting common 3 o'clock directionwith 9 o'clock direction) is different depending on its latitude. Thatis, the designating section 21 will approach the horizontal line at lowlatitude, while become more distant from the horizontal line at highlatitude. The same sunrise and sunset designating section 21 can be usedwithin Republic of Korea. However, a different timepiece having adifferent sunrise and sunset designating section 21 is needed forforeign countries such as USA, Russia, China, Japan and the like ofwhich territory is wide or the shape of the territory is long from southto north.

When the standard meridian line in Korea is 127.5 (actually, eastlongitude of 135), and when numeral 12 of hour scale 4 coincides withhour hand 1, it means that the sun is culminated and the rotation ofhour hand 1 is the same with the rotation of the sun. Accordingly, a reddot can be drawn as the symbol of the sun or a taegeug design or a starcan be drawn for indicating the position of the sun at a specific time.

Utilizing the timepiece having the above-mentioned constitution, thepresent time and the position of the sun can be recognized by the commonmethod. That is, when hour hand 1 is positioned on the common 12 o'clockdirection, the sun is culminated, when positioned above the connectingline of sunrise and sunset time designating section 21 (in case of May,the connecting line of May in the left portion of the sunrise and sunsettime designating section and the center point of the timepiece and theconnecting line of May in the right portion of the sunrise and sunsettime designating section and the center point of the timepiece), the sunis in the state of floating in the sky and when positioned below theconnecting line, the sun is below the horizontal line. When hour hand 1is on the connecting line of the month, the sun is in sunrise or sunsetstate.

The object of the present invention also can be accomplished by atimepiece from which the sunrise time and the sunset time and theposition of the sun can be determined, the timepiece comprising an hourhand 1 which rotates once per 24 hours; a sunrise time designating plate2 a including a sunrise time designating section 21 a having scales forindicating the sunrise time; and a sunset time designating plate 2 bincluding a sunset time designating section 21 b having scales forindicating the sunset time. One of sunrise time designating plate 21 aand sunset time designating plate 21 b can rotate optionally. And theother plate rotates to the counter direction of the first plate whilekeeping the interlocking state with the first plate.

The timepiece of the present invention can further include minute hand 3which rotates once per hour.

The shape of hour hand 1 can be the common shape and hour hand 1 caninclude a design symbolizing the sun.

Sunrise time designating plate 2 a and sunset time designating plate 2 bcan be manufactured by drawing a line from each center point to the endportion of each plate or by designating marks at the end portion of eachplate for indicating the sunrise time and the sunset time. Morepreferably, the characters of the sunrise or sunset, or the sunrise timeor sunset time may be designated on a predetermined position of eachplate as shown in FIGS. 4 & 5.

One of sunrise time designating plate 2 a and sunset time designatingplate 2 b, is manufactured for optionally rotating by a manual operationwhile manufacturing the remaining plate rotating to the counterdirection of the first plate and keeping the interlocking state with thefirst plate. At a predetermined position on the two plates, on the glasscover, on the case and the like, a guide for the manual operation can beindicated for the optional rotation by the manual operation. Since thetime from the sunrise to the culmination and the time from theculmination to the sunset during a day, is the same, it is preferredthat the two plates keep the interlocking state with each other foraccomplishing a minuter operation. Of course, the two plates can beoperated by different manual operations without keeping the interlockingstate.

Through utilizing the timepiece having the above-described constitutionaccording to the present invention, the present time, the position ofthe sun at the present time, the sunrise time and the sunset time, canbe appreciated. In particular, the external state such as the brightstate of day or the dark state of night, can be easily achieved even inthe underground city and in a closed space by using the timepiece of thepresent invention.

In order to realize the directions of sunrise and sunset on thetimepiece, in the timepiece of the present invention, it is preferred tomake indicators, for example, “E” and “W”, at the hour scales of AM6 andPM 6, respectively.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been describedonly for the structure and the rotational velocity of each plate, it isunderstood that the present invention should not be limited to thepreferred embodiments, but various changes and modifications can be madeby one skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the inventionas hereinafter claimed. That is, the timepiece of the present inventioncan be operated by a mechanical manner through the combination of adriving apparatus and sawtooth having a predetermined rotating ratio.Further the recognition of the data from the timepiece of the presentinvention can be implemented through an electronic manner using adisplay device such as an LCD (liquid crystal display device) or a CRT(cathod ray tube).

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

Through utilizing the clock having the above-described constitutionaccording to the present invention, the present time, the position ofthe sun at the present time, the sunrise time and the sunset time, canbe appreciated. In particular, the external state such as the brightstate of day or the dark state of night, can be easily achieved even inthe underground city and in a closed space by using the clock of thepresent invention.

1. A timepiece for indicating a sunrise and sunset time and a positionof the sun comprising: an hour hand which rotates once per 24 hours; anda bottom plate including a sunrise and sunset time designating sectionfor designating a scale corresponding to said sunrise time and saidsunset time for each month, the hour hand respectively corresponding tothe sunrise and sunset time designating sections at the sunrise andsunset times.
 2. A timepiece according to claim 1, comprising a minutehand which rotates once per hour.
 3. A timepiece according to claim 1,wherein said hour hand includes a design symbolizing the sun.
 4. Atimepiece for indicating a sunrise and sunset time and a position of thesun comprising: an hour hand which rotates once per 24 hours; a sunrisetime designating plate including a sunrise time designating sectionhaving a scale for indicating said sunrise time; and a sunset timedesignating plate including a sunset time designating section having ascale for indicating said sunset time, one of said sunrise timedesignating plate and said sunset time designating plate in rotation,with the other plate in rotation to a counter direction to said firstplate while keeping an interlocking state with said first plate.
 5. Atimepiece according to claim 4, comprising a minute hand which rotatesonce per hour.
 6. A timepiece according to claim 4, wherein said hourhand includes a design symbolizing the sun.
 7. A timepiece comprising: ahand to rotate once per 24 hours; and a plate including a linecorresponding to a sunrise time or a sunset time for a current month,the hand being aligned with the line at the sunrise time or the sunsettime.
 8. A timepiece comprising: a first plate having a scale toindicate a sunrise time; a second plate having a scale to indicate asunset time to interlock with the first plate, wherein the first andsecond plates rotate relative to each other; and a hand opposite thefirst or the second plate to rotate once per 24 hours.